NIGERIA’s headline inflation has risen to a 20-year high of 28.2 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed.
The NBS in its Consumer Price Index of November 2023 published on Friday said the headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.87% points when compared to that of October 2023, which was 27.33%.
This newspaper reports that the figure is the highest record from data obtained on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The bank’s data started from 2003.
“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.73% points higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2022, which was 21.47%,” NBS said.
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in November 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., November 2022).
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in November 2023 was 2.09%, which was 0.35% higher than the rate recorded in October 2023 (1.73%).
“This means that in November 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in average price level in October 2023.”
It added that food inflation rate in November 2023 was 32.84% on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.72% points higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2022 (24.13%).
According to the NBS, “the rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Oil and fat, Potatoes, Yam and other Tubers, Fish, Fruit, Meat, Vegetables and Coffee, Tea and Cocoa.
“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in November 2023 was 2.42% this was 0.51% higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2023 (1.91%).
“The rise in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by rise in the rate of increase in the average prices of Bread and Cereals, Oil and fat, Meat, Coffee, Tea and Cocoa, Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers.
“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve-months ending November 2023 over the previous twelve-month average was 27.09%, which was 6.68% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in November 2022 (20.41%).”